Quad LP/Tape Poll Lightfoot, Gordon: Sundown [CD-4/Q8/QR]

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Rate "Sundown"

  • 6

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 5

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 4

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 3

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 2

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 1: Bad Mix, Bad Sound, Bad Content

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    31
One of my favorite quad albums, my first to enjoy from beginning to end.
This made my a lifelong Lightfoot fan, although I've yet to find an album of his I've enjoyed half as much.
There is, truly, not a single track that isn't stellar.
My favorite is the 7-minute Seven Island Suite, the original flip side of Carefree Highway.
It's somewhat sad to know Gordon created this masterpiece while in the midst of drinking himself nearly to death.

The quad mix is near perfect, so a 10 for content and mix.

Alas, the sound quality for both mixes (stereo and quad) don't quite make it in 2009. The hissiness, soft high end and bass, and dated reverb are a tad intrusive.
My stereo CD was the first issue in 1987 and may not be from the master tape, so I'll reserve judgement until I hear a cleaned-up remaster.

I'm still giving it 10.
Agree- every track on this album is wonderful :)
 
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I agree about Seven Island Suite. I have a CD and a Mofi 1/2 speed LP. The CD-4 is my original copy and THE WAY to listen to this. I never get tired of it. In my top 10 albums ever.
Very late to the party on this one QL.... BUT....Seven Island Suite is simply GLORIOUS music!! It is infused with amazing emotional peaks, and you cannot help but feel a different kind of high when it has finished.
 
Reading these capsule reviews prompted me to go back to the Quad reel transfer I've had for a dozen years or so. Gosh, I'd forgotten what a lovely album it is. Vocals, guitar, strings, and synths are discretely anchored to specific speakers to create a really immersive sound experience....just a smooth, complex instrumental tapestry. And the songs are lovely, possibly Gordon Lightfoot's best. A 10 from me.
 
Very late to the party on this one QL.... BUT....Seven Island Suite is simply GLORIOUS music!! It is infused with amazing emotional peaks, and you cannot help but feel a different kind of high when it has finished.
Seven Island Suite is my favorite song on thos album...the shortest six minutes in folk-rock. Glorious in quad, I might add.
 
"Sundown" was always one of my top, top quad favorites, but you can hear the azimuth problems they had in the 70's on the quad mastering machines by the high frequency roll off compared to the stereo version. I boosted the high end on my conversion of the reel. Same high end problems were common in other WEA releases like "Bette Midler - Divine Ms. M" & Aretha Franklin etc, many others. Had the earlier WEA quad mastering machines been better, we'd have an even more stellar "Sundown" today. One the problems that probably helped cause the early demise of quad adding to it's extra expense in the 70's.
 
"Sundown" was always one of my top, top quad favorites, but you can hear the azimuth problems they had in the 70's on the quad mastering machines by the high frequency roll off compared to the stereo version. I boosted the high end on my conversion of the reel. Same high end problems were common in other WEA releases like "Bette Midler - Divine Ms. M" & Aretha Franklin etc, many others. Had the earlier WEA quad mastering machines been better, we'd have an even more stellar "Sundown" today. One the problems that probably helped cause the early demise of quad adding to it's extra expense in the 70's.

Stellar sound regardless of the mastering problems you mention. I can't imagine overthinking this one to the point of not simply enjoying it.
 
This might be my favorite quad mix I have heard so definitely a 10. The music is great and the mix fits it perfectly. Sadly the two CD-4 copies I have are a little rough and distort (mainly during Seven Island Suite the best song of course :mad:). Hopefully the third copy I just ordered is better since the CD-4 definitely sounds better than my Q8 when it is not distorting. Hopefully someday it will get either a blu-ray or sacd release along with Cold on the Shoulder.

I've been lurking on here for quite a while and figured it was about time I actually posted something.
 
This might be my favorite quad mix I have heard so definitely a 10. The music is great and the mix fits it perfectly. Sadly the two CD-4 copies I have are a little rough and distort (mainly during Seven Island Suite the best song of course :mad:). Hopefully the third copy I just ordered is better since the CD-4 definitely sounds better than my Q8 when it is not distorting. Hopefully someday it will get either a blu-ray or sacd release along with Cold on the Shoulder.

I've been lurking on here for quite a while and figured it was about time I actually posted something.
Welcome RandomPiGuy. Let’s hear more often from you especially given that you have a bit of quad stuff. That’s a bummer you have bad samples of Seven Island Suite.
 
Ok so I just replaced the permanently attached cable on my turntable with RCA jacks and switched to a lower capacitance cable. After readjusting my demodulator I tried this disc and it sounds way better now :D. It still distorts some at the same parts but it doesn't overpower the music anymore. Definitely don't ignore the capacitance of your cables if trying to play cd-4 discs or you might end up listening to sandpaper instead of Gordon Lightfoot.
 
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